Durant says media 'manufactured' his beef with Westbrook

Kevin Durant says there is nothing to read into the hype surrounding his reported beef with Russell Westbrook.

Westbrook was reported to have fallen out with Durant over his failure to inform him of a move from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Golden State Warriors ahead of the 2016-17 season.

Their subsequent meetings have been billed as revenge games, but Durant feels the media has played a huge role in creating tension between the two.

The currently injured Warriors star opened up about his relationship with his old friend, insisting there was no tension between them on their first meeting this season.

"We spent some time together and I understand like, who I left to go to and what happened, and all this stuff," Durant told the Bill Simmons Podcast.

"And then, on top of that, I don't really think he got a problem. But if you ask a man every single day about me, I would be p***** too.

"I think that's what added to this feud, or this beef we have, which is all manufactured."

The Warriors-Thunder meetings are not the only encounters the two have had.

Much was made about All-Star weekend and how the two players would have to play with one another on the Western Conference team. Durant grew frustrated over how everything was under a microscope during those events and wishes he could have interacted more with his old team-mate.

"I wanted to ask Russell like, 'How's your family doing man, how you feel?' Like stuff that normal people talk about," he said. "But there's just so many cameras watching and it's like, 'Oh what are they talking about, they didn't look at each other, they didn't even say hi.'

"It was awkward. Everybody sees it, everybody talked about it the whole time, that was the topic of discussion," Durant said. "It was corny. It was tabloid TMZ talk. It's not even basketball, it's not even what's important in this game."

The Warriors do not play the Thunder again in the regular season, but there is a chance the two teams can meet in the playoffs.